Fallen from the Sky
by Sarcastic Innocence
Summary: Ruins are supposed to be like what they say: Ruins and void of people, right? An adventurer, after hearing the legends of the ruins of Juperos,journeys to see them for herself. But... maybe forgotten ruins aren’t that solitary after all...


Ruins are supposed to be like what they say: Ruins and void of people, right? An adventurer, after hearing the legends of the ruins of Juperos, journeys to see them for herself. However, after an encounter, maybe forgotten ruins aren't that solitary and quiet after all…

Hooray, another boring quest story!

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**Fallen from the Sky**

**The story of Juperos**

**By Kyomi Terakada**

**Inspired by the song Tenkakeruoru by Amorkana.**

* * *

**Warning**

**Somewhat extreme spoilers for the Juperos Core Quest. However, please note that this is ****fictional****; this doesn't really happen when you run into Vesper, as much as I wish it does.**

_Words in italic are my own words._

**Words in bold are of the master of Juperos. Words without quotation marks ("these") are his words taken directly from screenshots.**

* * *

The buildings have collapsed and the whole place is shrouded in darkness. Beneath the bridge on which I stand, the ground here is covered in graves, little white tombstones and crosses peeking out of the dark earth.

Though it is dark, the lamps have not been lit. Little propellers that would've kept the city in the air, beneath the lights are still, silent.

It has taken me three days to travel here from Yuno; three long days to travel to the floating city, Juperos.

However majestic it may have been before, it now falls in ruins before me; all of it nearly completely underground.

Seeing that there is no one here, I move to the second floor, the place that had helped keep the city in the sky.

Or so I thought.

I thought everyone was gone. I thought I was alone here, but here, there are still robots, thousands of them; large ones, small ones, humanoid ones.

I hear a voice. It sounds strange, yet I know for sure it's human.

The voice seems to be coming from all directions.

**Who are you to come here?**

I look around, but I see no one. Like I thought, I'm alone here.

Who could that be?

He speaks again.

**Have you come seeking Juperos? It no longer exists…**

_Who's talking?_

_Who's there?_

_Come out!_

**Have you come to see me? Fine! Find me first!**

There's a large portal in the middle of this place.

I rush quickly towards it, afraid of all the robots who have suddenly charged towards me.

And now…

I find myself in this strange place.

Everything around me glows with an eerie blue.

The voice speaks.

**Those of you who have come here, I do not intend to stop you, but I assume you are prepared for a few obstacles. **

**After all, you **_**are**_** venturing through a forbidden area!**

A few robots try to stop me from moving towards the voice.

**How about now?** the voice asks, **let me see just how strong you are!**

I whisper quietly. A flurry of snow and ice freeze the monsters.

A buzzing of machinery.

**Come on, come on!** He taunts, **Yes. Run… right into my hands!**

**Do you want to know who I am? You will, once you defeat all my minions!**

More robots appear.

**I was the head of this underground laboratory. But that was a long time ago, back when I was merely a human.**

"Merely a human"? Does it mean he's dead?

_What has happened here? Please, tell me!_

**I was called Vesper Newton. Haha, they called me a mad man back then.**

_Vesper Newton…_

_Are you a scientist, perhaps?_

The robots before me collapsed so I try to press onwards. His voice stops me from going the opposite direction.

**Not yet!**

I move once again towards Vesper's voice.

**These security systems… They're not really for protection. It's sort of just a hobby to pass the time. Being immortal, I have a lot of time on my hands.**

_Immortal? What do you mean?_

**Were you hoping to find something wonderful? Something miraculous?**

**You're wrong! Welcome to Hell!**

_Hell…? This can't be hell. This world is already very wonderful._

I move onwards, but he stops me again.

**Do you have still have your courage?**

I nodded, but clasped my staff closer to myself. I was shaking, both in fear and excitement.

**Come. Prove it, **Vesper orders.

**I've been waiting for someone strong enough to compete with me…**

_Compete? What do you mean by that?_

_  
_**If you hear this, I wish you will be the one… perhaps, a mere shadow of my former self…**

_Wait, compete? With you?_

**is somewhere down here, wandering…**

_Wandering? Am I not alone here after all?_

_Are there other people here as well?_

**I can never rest in peace…**

**I'll wait forever or until someone can put me out of my misery…**

**I will be waiting for you!**

_I…_

There was nothing I could say. He suddenly sounded so old; so tired. I felt so sorry, and I truly pitied him.

As I reached the Elevator, his voice changes to a mystical tone.

**My descendents... do you want to know why this city was buried beneath the earth?**

_I do. But…_

**If so, follow my voice…**

I see myself standing before a large gate. The same blue glow runs down the stone door like a waterfall. Two pillars stand beside the gate with strange lines connected to circles.

Circuits, maybe?

A pedestal with the Juperos insignia stands before the gate. I've seen many of these already while coming here.

**I shall let you see for yourself what you desire to know…**

Robots from all corners of this room rush towards me.

**Overcome all the hallucinations,** he demands.

**Open your eyes and see past all of the lies. I can only maintain this vision for you for twenty minutes.**

_Vision? hallucination?_

_Am I dreaming, or is this real? Am I really seeing all this?_

**Look! And remember!**

The robots once again fall before me.

And there is silence.

**Those of you who have defeated the hallucination, step forward.**

I slowly move towards the large gate.

**I admire your patience,** Vesper says kindly, though his voice is still tinged with a hint of ice; a hint of hate.

**Let's see if everything you have experienced were traps for intruders.**

Well, I'm not surprised. I guess I technically am intruding this place… Were there people who have done the same? Have there been other people here, other than me?

**This city was not… as magnificent as you thought.**

_How could it not be, Vesper? Even in ruins, this place is beautiful!_

**This is a place where all the fears of humans flourish. Yes. Nobody leaves alive!**

_Fears? But… didn't people live here before?_

Another wave of robots appear. Like the ones before, they fall quickly.

**What do you see?**

I look around. Nothing here has changed…

**Are your eyes actually seeing something?**

_No, I don't see anything. Am I supposed to be?_

**Or do you just believe you are seeing?**

_Stop speaking in riddles, Vesper! _

_Where are you? _

_Come out!_

**Do not forget. That which limits you is nothing but yourself. Nothing is what you fear, and you have nothing to fear…**

_What are you talking about?_

**I am not going to tell you anything.**

_Not about yourself? Not about what had happened? Not even simply just about Juperos, Vesper?_

**My city, my people are now but a memory.**

**Everything was a mistake. We were not supposed to be here.**

_What do you mean?_

_How could it be a mistake? This city used to float, didn't it?_

**Is this a place where humans are forbidden? You want to know, don't you? Go ahead… Go deeper.**

The gate opens.

I step through and find myself in another large room. Tall brown pillars shoot out of the ground. The room was the same blue as the room I was in before.

**It's not real anyway. All of it's safe, it can't hurt you…**

Vesper's voice fades away.

_Wait! Where are you going?_

A large robot stands before me. Purple flames spit and splutter from the two sides of his face. Two glowing dark blue eyes stare at me. It lifts a clawed hand towards me. In fear, I clasp my staff and take a step back.

"…_Vesper?"_

The robot's eyes lighten.

"_But I thought…" _I began.

"_Aren't you dead?"_

"**I was afraid."**

_What? Of what? I don't see anything to be afraid of…_

"**Everyone who was human died from the fall. No one human survived."**

_Well, I'm not really surprised. But why did it fall?_

"**Juperos is a city dependant on machinery."**

"**Robots did our work for us. They do not starve, and could be repaired easily if broken."**

"**I was afraid of death."**

"**So afraid…"**

The ground and the walls around us slowly changed. Beneath our feet were streets of cobblestone, and beside us were tall buildings. I looked up into the sky, it was clear and blue. I stepped forwards towards a short fence. To my surprise, there was no ground on the other side of the fence, but more sky. In amazement, I realized we were in a place that was floating.

"_What happened? Where are we, Vesper?"_

He didn't answer.

I turn to face him; now a young man standing beside me. I see people walking down the street, cheerfully talking to each other. A couple head my way with a robot following obediently behind. I step towards them and block their path.

"_Excuse me…"_

They didn't stop. Furthermore, they stepped through me as if I didn't exist. They walked on, laughing and conversing about the robot matches they were going to watch together that night.

"_No… It can't be"_

I suddenly realized.

"_Juperos?"_

"**This is the city I had created."**

I returned to Vesper's side.

"_But… See! Juperos really is beautiful! Why are you saying it's not?"_

"**However…"**

The sun was beginning to set, and with the disappearance of the rays of the sun, the lights on the street began to flicker on. Soon, the sun completely vanished. Time seemed to fast forward itself.

It was the middle of the night. The round moon was in the middle of the sky, surrounded by flickering stars. It was peaceful.

I was going to lie down and stare at the stars, but Vesper placed a hand on my shoulder.

"**Stay standing for now."**

His voice sounded definite, like a mystic foreseeing the future, yet somehow, I noticed his voice wavered slightly, as if he were worried about something. I nodded and stood up again.

A few minutes later, I noticed it.

The barely audible humming noise that I had heard the whole time I was in this Juperos was gone.

It was dead quiet. I could hear my own heartbeat increase.

The lights on the street began to flicker.

I looked up into the sky. The moon was still high in the dark velvet. The stars had dimmed slightly, but they had not faded away.

The ground began to shake slightly. Though it was all an illusion, I could feel the tremble.

The lights flickered faster now, on, off, on.

A loud deafening sound filled the air; the sound of machinery suddenly halting.

Silence.

All the lights around me turned off with the sound.

The streets were pitch black now.

And as if I were Alice, I felt as if I were falling down a rabbit hole.

The moon and stars watched silently above me, glittering with malice as the world around me turned to pitch.

I don't know how long I was out, but I woke to the sounds of machinery starting up. It was still dark, but I could see something in the near distance. I gasped when my eyesight cleared and I realized what they were.

Bodies, some in pieces, lay around me. Buildings lay destroyed everywhere, broken from the impact. Nearby me, I could see a ringed hand underneath a fallen tower. The dark crimson of dried blood had seeped into the earth and dyed the floor a dark red.

The hum of machinery gave the scene before me an eerie feeling.

A pair of glowing eyes beside me gave me quite the scare. It took me a moment to realize that it was a robot. It pushed itself onto its two feet, and while scanning the area around it, a familiar voice spoke.

"Hello? Is there anyone there? Please! Someone! Answer me!"

But there was no response.

A soft breeze blew across my face as I slowly got to my own feet to examine my new surroundings. As I crossed a bridge, I heard the sound of machinery, no, digging below me. Hundreds of Venatu and Dimik covered the earth below the swaying bridge where I stood, burying the dead. Some dug holes; others carried the bodies to be buried. As I stood to watch, others began to fill the crude graves of those who had perished in the fall. Each grave was marked with a white cross. Though none had names to reveal who lies in eternal slumber beneath the dirt, I smiled to myself, knowing that those who had died should now be forever in peace. I was somehow glad that no one survived the horrible ordeal. It would be heartbreaking for that poor soul to have awakened and realized that everyone, not just their loved ones were gone. Their homes were gone, the city; ruined.

Slowly, the robots finished their work and scattered. I remain standing on the bridge, the brown earth, now a sea of white crosses lay before me.

"**How many years has it been…"**

The voice again. I turn and see Vesper standing beside me.

"**The sages doubted machinery even more after that, and rebuilt Juperos, this time with magic. They named their floating city Yuno."**

I nodded. "_The same insignia is in Yuno,_" I answered.

"**There is no more I can show you,"** he said sadly, but I smiled in response.

"_Thank you for showing me the true Juperos. Please believe me when I tell you that you honestly did create a wonderful city._"

I looked around at all the robots that were nearby. "_I'm sorry I cannot grant the wish you've been wanting for so long, but I hope you be able to be at peace soon. And until that time, I hope they,_" I pointed to the robots, _"will keep you company."_

I smiled again, and with that, I pulled out a butterfly wing and, crushing it, returned to Yuno.


End file.
